The Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority (ECAA) has permitted B737 MAX operations in the country as of April 11, 2022, paving the way for Ethiopian Airlines (ET, Addis Ababa International) to reactivate its four B737-8s.
"The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has been conducting rigorous investigation bidding to find out the underlying reasons that caused the crash and have come up with inviolable regulation that should be enforced. On top of that, the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority has conducted rigorous and careful inspections on the alterations made in the design of the airplane as well as the regulations put into practice," the regulator said in a statement.
The ECAA published an advisory circular outlining the steps to be taken before the aircraft could be reactivated in December 2021. Ethiopian Airlines operated a four-hour proving flight with the authorities and journalists on board on February 1, hoping to resume commercial operations shortly after. However, it ultimately had to contend with more than two more months of grounding.
Besides the four aircraft delivered to it before the March 2019 crash of an Ethiopian B737-8 - flight ET302 - and the resulting global grounding of the MAX family, Ethiopian Airlines has a further 26 aircraft on firm order from Boeing. Former chief executive Tewolde GebreMariam repeatedly said the carrier would be the last in the world to resume B737 MAX operations to alleviate any concerns customers may have. While Ethiopia has kept the type grounded for longer than most, it is not actually the last jurisdiction to permit the relaunch of B737 MAX flights, as China has yet to do so.
Ethiopian Airlines has yet to file B737 MAX schedules and did not respond to ch-aviation's request for added clarity.
